Wachusett Mountain (ski area)

Wachusett Mountain Ski Resort
Aerial view of the ski area
Location	Princeton, Massachusetts
Nearest city	Worcester, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°29′58″N 71°53′11″W / 42.49944°N 71.88639°W / 42.49944; -71.88639
Vertical	1,006 ft (307 m)
Top elevation	2,006 ft (611 m)
Base elevation	1,000 ft (305 m)
Skiable area	110 acres (43 hectares)
Runs	26
Longest run	7,050 ft (2,149 m)
Lift system	3 magic carpets 1 triple chairlift 3 high speed quads
Terrain parks	Alpine Park Racing venue
Snowfall	100 in (254 cm)
Snowmaking	100% (110 acres)
Website	http://www.wachusett.com

Wachusett Mountain is a ski resort, on Mount Wachusett, in the towns of Princeton and Westminster, Worcester County, Massachusetts. It has 25 trails, served by 8 ski-lifts, including 3 high-speed chairlifts and 3 child-friendly magic-carpet lifts, 1 Triple Chairlift, and 1 Pony Lift (rope tow).

Wachusett Mountain appeals mostly to skiers from Boston and Worcester, because it provides a weekend shuttle service to and from a MBTA commuter stop in nearby Fitchburg, Massachusetts.

Wachusett Mountain has 100% snow-making capacity. It also has night-skiing on most of its trails.

The first ski trails were cut into Mount Wachusett by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1934 and 1937. Those trails were called Pine Hill Trail and Balance Rock. Today skiers can still ski down the upper and lower half of Balance rock. The middle section closed in the 1980s. During World War II, the 10th Mountain Division trained at Wachusett. There is now a plaque at the summit commemorating this. The first lifts installed were a T-bar in 1960 (the Oxbow T-Bar) and in 1962 (the West T-Bar). At the time, the West T-Bar was the longest T-bar in New England, measuring a total of 3,800 feet (1,160 m). [1]

The Massachusetts State Downhill ski championships were run on the Pine Hill Trail until 1966. The race was called off that year after 3 racers were injured, and moved in the years following to the Balance Rock Trail until ski area expansion cut that trail in 1983.

In 1969, Ralph Crowley was granted a lease for a 450-acre (1.8 km²) parcel of land on Mount Wachusett by the state to operate the ski area. In 1982, a major expansion was completed which included the construction of the base lodge.